Separator device provided with a cyclone chamber with a centrifugal unit, and vacuum cleaner provided with such a separator device.
The invention relates to a separator device for separating solid and/or liquid particles from a gas flow, which separator device is provided with a cyclone chamber with a substantially rotationally symmetrical side wall, an upper wall, at least one inlet opening for the gas flow provided in the side wall adjacent the upper wall, an outlet opening for the gas flow provided in the upper wall, and a discharge opening for the separated solid and/or liquid particles provided at a side of the cyclone chamber remote from the upper wall.
The invention also relates to a vacuum cleaner provided with a housing in which a separator device is accommodated for separating solid and/or liquid particles from a gas flow, which separator device is provided with a cyclone chamber with a substantially rotationally symmetrical side wall, an upper wall, at least one inlet opening provided in the side wall adjacent the upper wall and capable of being coupled to a suction attachment, an outlet opening provided in the upper wall and connected to an electrical suction unit arranged in the housing, and a discharge opening provided at a side of the cyclone chamber remote from the upper wall, which discharge opening is connected to a holder for the separated solid and/or liquid particles.
A vacuum cleaner of the kind mentioned above and provided with a separator device of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph is generally known as a cyclone vacuum cleaner. Such a separator device is provided with an inlet channel which issues into the inlet opening of the cyclone chamber and which is approximately tangentially oriented relative to the rotationally symmetrical side wall of the cyclone chamber. An underpressure is generated in the cyclone chamber by the suction unit of the vacuum cleaner during operation, so that a gas flow arises in the cyclone chamber from the inlet opening to the outlet opening. Since the inlet channel is oriented approximately tangentially relative to the side wall, the gas flow in the cyclone chamber comprises a spiraling portion starting from the inlet opening and merging into a core flow which is present in the center of the cyclone chamber and is directed towards the outlet opening. Solid and/or liquid particles present in the gas flow are separated from the gas flow in said spiraling portion of the gas flow under the influence of centrifugal forces and deposited against the side wall of the cyclone chamber, whereupon said particles are removed through the discharge opening of the cyclone chamber under the influence of the force of gravity.
A problem in such separator devices which has long been known is the so-called short-circuit flow which is present in the cyclone chamber in addition to the spiraling portion of the gas flow and the core flow and which is aimed from the inlet opening directly at the outlet opening. Solid and/or liquid particles in the short-circuit flow practically do not enter the spiraling portion of the gas flow and are accordingly badly separated from the gas flow in the cyclone chamber. The efficiency of the separator device is adversely affected by said short-circuit flow. In particular, comparatively light solid and/or liquid particles are not separated from the short-circuit flow. Besides comparatively light solid and/or liquid particles, foam particles especially fail to be separated from the short-circuit flow when such a separator device is used in a vacuum cleaner, in particular a combined dry and wet vacuum cleaner provided with a shampooing device.
A cyclone vacuum cleaner is known from NL-A-7613475 in which the outlet opening of the cyclone chamber comprises a tubular outlet channel in which a fan is journaled, capable of being driven into rotation by a motor. A secondary spiraling flow is generated in the outlet channel by the fan, so that comparatively light solid and/or liquid particles not separated from the gas flow in the cyclone chamber are separated from the gas flow in the outlet channel. Downstream of the outlet channel, there is a further fan which can be driven by a motor and which generates a clearing suction along the inner wall of the outlet channel. The particles separated from the secondary spiraling gas flow in the outlet channel are carried along by said clearing suction and finally removed towards the discharge opening of the cyclone chamber. The construction of this known cyclone vacuum cleaner as described above is comparatively complicated and occupies comparatively much space.